Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez yesterday won the DNC’s elections for the position of National Chairman in a tough-fought battle. He becomes the first member of the Latin America community in History to ever occupy the post. The elections were held in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Perez remarks after the election were that the Democratic Party faces a crisis of confidence after the election of President Trump, whom he further described as America’s worst President of all time.
Besides the celebration of his victory, Mr. Perez faces an uphill task in enhancing the party’s unity. There are lingering frictions between the party’s young progressive liberals and the skeptical supporters of Hillary Clinton within the party. The new National Chairman will need to address this issue as soon as possible for the party’s progress and strength. This is a high priority issue, given the fact that the Democrats lost the November Presidential race as well as a majority sitting in Congress.
“I am confident that when we lead with our values and lead with our actions we succeed. That is what the Democratic Party has always been about and that is what we will continue to be about”, he told party delegates during his speech after the election.
In his address, he further acknowledged the value of President Trump’s January 20th inauguration, saying that it “was an undeniably important day”. However, he went on to say that the protests that went on after the inauguration were far more important for the American people.
Despite the protests showing there were great numbers against President Trump, Mr. Perez acknowledged there were setbacks needed to be addressed within the Democratic Party. He said that the party was “suffering from a crisis of confidence, a crisis of relevance”.
President Trump sent his congratulatory remarks to Mr. Perez in a tweet saying “Congratulations to Thomas Perez, who has just been named Chairman of the DNC. I could not be happier for him, or for the Republican Party!”
Mr. Perez went forward to beating his fellow Democrat and opponent Keith Ellison for the National Chairman seat. This was after a second round that ended 235-500 in Mr. Perez’s favor. Mr. Ellison’s chairmanship bid was backed by Senator Bernie Sanders. Ellison was the first Muslim to be elected to Congress. Following his loss, Mr. Ellison was quickly made Deputy Chairman of the party and rallied all Democrats to unite behind the leadership of Mr. Perez.
This Democrat election was viewed as a battle between the progressives and moderates in the party. The progressives, largely composed of Democrat members who had been in support of Bernie Sanders in the party nominations for Presidency, rallied behind his favorite Keith Ellison. The moderates, who has backed Hillary Clinton’s bid from the beginning, supported Mr. Perez. Just like in last year’s Presidential nominations for the Democrats, the candidate who had the establishment’s support went ahead to win.
Winning, however, was just the beginning of the job for Mr. Perez. His behind the scenes role as party Chairman is going to require a lot of work. He has to begin the party’s fundraising. Further, he must begin the party’s recruitment process for candidates to participate in the 2018 midterm elections. Furthermore, he has to begin laying a foundation for the party’s 2020 Presidential nominations contest which will be broad and likely marked by heated controversy.
There are high stakes for the DNC in America, and the pressure is almost unbearable.
